Well, I told you guys it was sequel time, and what better way to begin a RWBY story than with some trailers?
So, without further delay, I give you our first trailer:
The Night Attack
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Six months ago...
General Erwin Frundsberg looked out over his army. One thousand of the finest soldiers the Kingdom of Vale had to offer were his to command in this classified operation, all of them having agreed that this mission was never to be spoken of again once completed under pain of death. The army was settling down for the night, pitching a camp in a large clearing in the middle of one of the island's many forests after a long day on campaign. There was no sugar coating the fact that this was a mission of extermination, a battle with one objective: the annihilation of the entire population of the island they were currently on. They were here to wipe out one of the most ancient threats on Remnant, a plague long thought to have been dead, that is until the end of the Faunus War a year prior when it began to appear in coastal towns. The threat realized, the Council of Vale had gathered its most promising generals from that war, given them an army of the best fighters they could assemble and set them to work.
Erwin had been one of the generals selected; his victories over seemingly impossible odds in the Faunus War had earned him considerable respect, especially considering his age. Erwin was seventeen years old, a prodigy general with the skills of a veteran, and when aided by his semblance of tactical analysis, allowing him to find the quickest way to take down an enemy using what resources he held, and he was a force of nature with his army. Today, his resources consisted of his thousand man army, and his three near constant companions, two of which hung from his belt at the moment.
The first was his ever constant companion: his kukri-revolver known as Hydra. With enough stopping power to bring down a charging Grimm with one of its six bullets and a special variety of dust contained in the handle for... special purposes. The second was a gift from the Council of Vale after his victories in the Faunus War: a falcata he had chosen to name Drakon. The sword may not have contained a gun, but the earth dust forged into the blade made it near indestructible, and in close quarters with the Grimm, that was important.
The sound of footsteps approaching him alerted Erwin to the presence of his third companion, this one slightly more human.
"Ah, it's almost just like the good ol' days, isn't it Erwin, old pal?" Said another man, this one taller than the general, dressed in a red silk robe, a silk covered metal helm, and a suit of plated chainmail as opposed to Erwin's red and blue general's coat and kepi, five stars adorning the hat. The man had long, black hair running down to his shoulders from beneath the helmet, a pair of red eyes looking to the general, meeting his green ones beneath the brown hair that peaked out from his kepi.
"It's pretty close Vlad." Erwin replied. He knew this man, Vlad Paler, well, as one tends to when fighting alongside someone during the Faunus War. Erwin quickly found out just how useful Vlad and his halberd-shotgun Zepesh were as they fought side by side. "Except last time we had another with us, and we fought faunus, not... monsters."
Vlad let out a barking laugh and roughly clapped Erwin on the back. "Well, at least the smell will be the same!" He declared. "Speaking of our former companion though, whatever happened to Benny boy anyway?"
"Well, after what he did in the war with us, his family finally let him go to combat school. It'll take a while for him to get in, but at least he's finally on his way." Erwin explained. It was mostly true, their former companion during the Faunus War, Ben Aparte had been trying to get into Beacon academy for years now, but due to some drama involving his family, the boy was sent to the Vale Military Academy instead of a school for huntsmen, and now that he was finally on his way to being accepted, there was no reason for him to die out here. There was another reason Ben had left, however, and that was Vlad.
It was no secret in the army that Vlad was a madman, having resorted to impalement in the Faunus War in order to intimidate their foes and break their spirits. And that was only one of the many brutalities Vlad had committed during the war. By the end of it, Erwin wanted Ben as far from Vlad as possible.
"Scouts say they've seen White Fang members about." Vlad said. "looks like we may just get to fight a few faunus after all."
"Leave them alone, Vlad." Erwin ordered. "We only have so many men and so much ammo here, we don't need to waste it."
"You're kidding, right?" Vlad asked, incredulous. "Those animals could want your head and you'd let them go?"
"They're people too, Vlad." Erwin replied. "And if there is a White Fang cell on the island, the last thing we need to do is piss it off. We don't need two enemies against us at once here. So no Vlad, you're not going to kill them. That's an order."
"You had no problem killing them before-"
"I said, that's an order." Erwin said, cutting off his lieutenant.
Vlad glared at the general and snarled in anger. Were it anyone else, Vlad would have punched him out right there, but he still respected Erwin too much to do so. With another growl, Vlad turned on his heel and stalked off. A great night was just ruined, and he really didn't feel like sharing a camp with these men, in his mood right now he was as likely to kill them as he was to lead them. Spying a nearby cave, Vlad decided that would a be a good place for a temporary rest. Gathering his bedroll, the halberdier set up a temporary camp a short distance into the cavern. He gladly let sleep take him after a long day on campaign.
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It felt like his eyes had just shut before he heard the sounds of the flames and the screams. The warrior quickly leapt to his feet, grabbing his halberd and charging out of the cave into the night.
After going to war at a young age, very little managed to frighten Vlad anymore, but what he discovered as he burst out of the cave horrified him more than anything else. The entire army camp was set ablaze, tents burning down everywhere. Screams of confusion and terror rang out over the flickering flames, as did the rhythmic staccato of gunfire that silenced those screams. The smell of smoke and burning flesh permeated the air as the burning camp bathed the night in a bright orange glow.
Eyes widened in horror, Vlad charged through the border of fire into the remains of the camp, missing or ignoring as the flames singed his robes. This was a nightmare, this was HIS nightmare. Everything he even remotely cared about was burning to ashes all around him.
His senses abandoned him, only sight remaining as he shambled through the burning camp. He knew he was crying out Erwin's name, knowing the general would find some way to fix this mess. Ignoring the burns he was receiving from the flames, he stumbled numbly onwards, noticing something sticking out of the ground not too far away. Upon reaching it, he wished he had never seen it. No, he wished he had never heard of this place.
Stuck into the ground before him was a sword. Not just any sword, but Drakon.
The lieutenant general collapsed to his knees in front of the blade. How could this have happened?
Vlad's thoughts were interrupted by the butt of a rifle hitting him in the back of the head, sending him face first into the ash covered dirt. The soldier groaned in pain as a voice from behind him said "Stay down."
Vlad growled in anger, his eyes turning a much darker red. He heard a dust rifle being cocked and that sent him over the edge. He rolled to the side just before three shots were fired at the spot his head just occupied. Leaping to his feet, Vlad raised Zepesh and fired, the buckshot tearing through the gunman's chest and sending him to the ground. The halberdier took a moment to look at his would-be killer. Even through the ash, blood and shot, the emblem of the White Fang on his once white robes was still visible. Vlad's rage reached new heights at that point, the fire surrounding him nothing compared to the flame of rage in his mind.
"Don't move!" Another voice called out. Vlad turned to see a dozen more White Fang members had now surrounded him, each one levelling a gun at his head. "Vlad Paler," said their leader, a tall, muscular faunus with arms resembling those of a gorilla. "For your crimes in the Faunus War, I hereby sentence you to death. Drop your weapon now and we'll make it quick."
The lieutenant general glared at the faunus and took a step closer. "Do you have any idea what you've just done?" he growled.
"Stay back!" The faunus barked, his rifle aimed directly at Vlad's head.
Vlad ignored him and took another step. "Do you?"
"I said stop!" The ape-man roared.
"Answer me!" Vlad demanded, screaming right into the terrorist's face.
The faunus answered with a pull of the trigger, a dust infused bullet slamming right into Vlad's head, the soldier falling to the ground. "I know exactly what I've done, you monster." He said, leaning down into the soldier's face.
In an unexpected answer of his own, Vlad's hand shot up and grabbed the man around the throat. Vlad hauled himself up to his feet, pulling the extremist up with him. If the man's eyes had been visible from behind his mask, they would have been full of terror as he looked into the darkening orbs of the madman who now held him, the wound from the gunshot sealing itself. "You've killed a thousand men here today, and condemned millions more to die as a result. For that, I sentence you, all of you, to death."
With those words, Vlad hurled the man it his fellows, the thrown terrorist smashing into three other men. The others responded with gunfire, but the halberdier simply surged through the bullets, shrugging them off as though he didn't even feel them, slamming the head of his halberd into the face of one White Fang, pulling it out to slam the axe head into another's shoulder, the man screaming as he fell to the ground and bled out. Another faunus charged him with a sword, but Vlad blocked his slash attack and smashed the butt of his halberd into his head, dazing him before he kicked him into the roaring fires around them, his screams filling the air.
Hearing the distinct whine of dust rifles priming, Vlad collapsed the head of Zepesh and aimed the staff at the source, firing off three rounds and dropping that many men before any of them could get off more than one shot, all of which the soldier was able to shrug off.
A shout from behind Vlad alerted him to two men charging him from behind, one with a sword, the other with a spear. With another blast of buckshot, the spearman was dropped, but Vlad was forced onto the defensive by the swift slashes of the swordsman, the attacks not giving him time to unfold the head of his weapon. Vlad smacked the sword away with his staff and kicked the faunus in the chest, sending him stumbling back. He then aimed and fired, the blast tearing off the man's leg from the knee down, sending him to the ground in a bloody mess, screaming in pain. His screams were silenced as Vlad stepped on his neck and aimed the end of his staff at his face. With a smirk, the soldier activated his weapon, the head of a halberd emerging from the head of the staff, the spike immediately burying itself in the man's forehead.
Vlad chuckled as he removed the blade from the man's head, turning away from him to see he was surrounded, the four remaining White Fang members having taken up positions around him, their ape-armed leader glaring darkly at him. The soldier barely reacted, his chuckles simply escalating into mad laughter, the sounds of his insane mirth echoing even over the still roaring flames.
Before any of the White Fang could demand an explanation, Vlad surged forward and jammed the head of his halberd into one man's chest, picking up the dying man with the polearm and hurling him at his fellows. They managed to dodge the corpse, but Vlad charged behind it and used a swing of his weapon decapitated one of the men, his limp body hitting the ground soon afterward. The third man stabbed at Vlad with a spear, only to have his initial thrust parried and returned as Vlad jammed his halberd's spike into his gut, smirking as his foe coughed up blood.
His smirk turned into a pained grimace of surprise as the blade of a sword shot through his chest, the familiar voice of the faunus leader whispering in his ear "Now try and survive that you monster."
Vlad snarled in response and kicked the faunus away from him. The ape-man stumbled back, leaving his blade in the lieutenant general's body. Vlad turned around a smashed his fist into the man's jaw, when he stumbled back in pain, the soldier grabbed him by the neck and threw him to the ground. When the ape-man tried to rise, Vlad harshly planted a boot on his chest.
Spitting blood in the face of his adversary, Vlad ripped the sword out of his back and pointed it at the faunus. "You had to come here, didn't you?" He said, as calmly as he could considering the still healing stab wound in his chest. "Do you have any idea what this place is? I'm guessing not because you chose to come here, on your own volition. Well, let me inform you: this place is hell. Lurking in the trees and caves of this place is something ancient, something deadly, and something that can definitely kill you, me and everyone else in the kingdom, hell, everyone else in the world should it break free. We, that is, the men you senselessly slaughtered, were sent here to get rid of it, to save the world if you will." Vlad took a moment to look around at the still burning camp around him. "I don't know if you put on this whole show just for me, but you've sentenced a lot more than me to die tonight." Vlad cocked his head to hear over the flames. The sounds of groans could be heard over the still crackling fire. "You know what, I don't think I'll kill you."
The faunus' face relaxed slightly upon those words, only for it to fall again as Vlad fired his halberd directly into his leg, blowing the limb clean off, drawing a lengthy scream of pain from the extremist, one that was made all the worse when Vlad jammed his sword through his other leg and into the ground. He looked weakly to the soldier as the human glared right into his face. "You said... you said..."
"I said I wouldn't kill you, and I won't." Vlad assured the pained man. "Instead, I'll leave you here, let you experience firsthand what you've doomed so many to."
With that, Vlad walked off, a massive horde approaching from the other direction. By all accounts, this mission, this entire war was a failure. Erwin was dead, the army was destroyed, and now he was stuck on this island. It was just him and the ancient curse on this place.
Might as well make the best of it.
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Well, there's trailer number one, and it's time to give credit where credit is due.
Vlad Paler, Erwin Frundsberg and the idea of the night attack were created by DeadAliveManiac, one of the many authors who leant me characters for this story, all of whom will be credited when the time comes.
Until then, please, review, let me know what you think.
